Fall,recovery and description of the Coleman chondrite

Abstract— A 0.5 kg stony meteorite associated with a bright bolide seen over southeastern Michigan on 1994 October 20 has been recovered. The circumstances of the fall and recovery of this chondrite, named Coleman, are presented. The most likely trajectory from the observations of the event implies preatmospheric orbital parameters typical of meteorites. Gamma-ray spectrometry of the cosmogenic radionuclides showed that the recovered mass was an interior fragment of a larger body and revealed abnormally high ²²Na and ²⁶Al activity. Electron microprobe analysis yielded compositions of Fa_24.1 and Fs_20.3, which are consistent with an L-chondrite classification. Petrographically, the presence of chondrules, the observed mineralogy and the degree of chondrule-matrix integration suggests assignment to petrologic type 6.